How much is an accountant in the Philippines?

Good question. Depending on who you ask there can be a pretty big variance too.

If you are considering moving a function or role to the Philippines, the cost of the resource is a factor, however its only one small factor. You also need to consider:

What does the output of the team need to be?

Who will train your team? Will they travel to the Philippines? For how long?

How will you measure the success of your training?

What is your expected speed to competency for your new team members?

Who will manage the team day to day?

How will you manage communication between your onshore and offshore team?

How often will you travel to the Philippines?

How will you drive performance and manage under performance?

How will you measure and manage quality?

What reporting do you need in place?

How will you manage utilization of your team?

How will changes be managed, communicated and trained?

Who will manage leave?

What is the impact and cost of losing one of your team members or having someone off sick or on leave for a week or more?

Let’s take a step back, before we get to the “how much” have you outlined your offshore objectives? Why you are moving? What is your expected return on investment?

Why are you moving your business functions or roles to the Philippines?

I’m guessing it will be for one or more of these reasons:

Looking for savings by reducing onshore staff and overhead costs

Wanting to deleverage your Australian resources so, they can focus on providing more value to your customers

Need to support business growth and increased workload at a lower cost

Plans to introduce a new service offering and need lower cost resources and skills that don’t exist in your business today

So, now you have outlined your objectives and are clear on what are your expected outcomes.

You have your dedicated team members, in your dedicated office space.

Now, here’s the million-dollar question. How are you going to drive performance and achieve your objectives and expected outcomes from another country?

What do you need to make your move offshore, a success?

Putting it simply, you need structure, governance and experience. You can develop this if you have lots of time, very deep pockets and are willing to move to the Philippines to learn how it’s done.

Sorry to say it folks but, like most things in life, successfully moving a function from one country to another and getting results, takes practice. If you are serious about achieving your objectives and getting results from your move offshore and you really want to achieve savings and focus on growing your practice, then you need to fine the right service provider. One that will learn your business and understand your objectives, will guide and support your strategy, deliver outcomes and share the responsibility of achieving your offshore objectives.

An outsource service provider gets paid to deliver results and achieve agreed outcomes.

So, how much is an accountant in the Philippines?

Understanding the cost of an accountant resource (ranges from $750 to $2000, depending on level and experience) is only one piece of the puzzle. A better way to budget for your move offshore is to ask, “How much will it cost to achieve my offshore objectives?”.

Where do you start? Well, its not as complicated as you might think. The right service provider is one that has been doing this years. They will be able to give you a very good idea of what you should budget, what you should expect and when you should see a return on your investment. You’ll probably be surprised at the cost, too.

Remember, the cost of getting it wrong is far worse than knowing the real cost upfront. This way you can budget correctly and focus on the reason you went into business, knowing that your service provider has your back.

About the author

20 years in operational management, 12 years outsourcing and 5 years in the Philippines. I am passionate about helping businesses of all sizes, to get more out of their move offshore.